"URS kid!" A frazzled Aether researcher runs up to Zossie, flecks of Nihilego venom sizzling on his protective coat. "UB-01 appeared from an Ultra Wormhole and infected one of our employees! What's your world's protocol for saving the host? And help us kill that damned parasite! Please!"
the Aether Foundation had become like home for her in her stay here, so wandering about wasn’t uncommon. It was so bright in here, the white walls all so blinding with the ea they reflected the white lights…it wasn’t bad to her, really. She could get used to Pokémon and the flora of this world in the Conservation areas, she could help them learn about Ultra Beasts in the labs downstairs…even if they sometimes said…unsavory things.
“Ki–kill?” She was befuddled by that part alone, following the researcher back towards the others as quick as her little legs would allow(which was pretty quick, honestly.). “Bzz–bzz–uh–unless it’s hosting itself on them, is that what you mean? They’ll detatch on their own, you–you just need to keep them out of trouble, mostly…! If you present an alternate food source for the Nihilego, it’ll probably let go faster–you also need to keep contact with your employee! They’re still in there, and if they can keeps grips on themselves psychologically, it’ll discourage the Nihilego from staying too long…! If you hurt the Nihilego, you’ll only hurt your employee more, so we just have to keep tabs on vitals and stuff! Uh–if they were just stung, withdrawing the toxins as soon as possible and keeping them hydrated would be a good idea–if you can get them onto some kind of dialysis, it should clean up anything in the blood, and as long as they don’t get further poison in them, the effects should fade after a while; it’s an addictive, so it just might take a while and some restraining since inhibitions are released!
“But–but we can’t kill the Nihilego!” What kind of conservation place was this that an employee was so quick to demand the death of a frightened creature? It’s not like the Nihileho wanted to be here; Aether was the ones opening up wormholes and sucking creatures from their own homes for study. “Just keep it contained and send it back once it lets go!”
Somebody was getting reported to Lusamine or Gladion whoever is in charge at the moment and getting in serious trouble.
*Grabs Zossie, shoves Furfrou's pokeball in her hand, pays the entrance free and drops her in the middle of the Battle Buffet* (Curious to see how she would fare if forced to battle with a regular pokemon. Also wondering if she would like human food like steak, sushi and pasta, if she can stomach them.)
Grabbing Zossie seems like a poor choice of ideas, as she sounds rather upset being grabbed, sounding like a Nihilego being hit with a water-type attack. She doesn’t want to hold the ball, she doesn’t want to hold anything, she wants to be unheld.
That aside, she holds the ball and looks around in complete confusion, shaking, whimpering. Too many strange noises all at once, strange smells, her hand went to her braid and began to stroke it, although her lack of focus resulted in uncomfortable tugging several times. The kind people running the establishment somehow managed to cool her down, a glass of water fortunately not being something one is charged, especially in Alola. Fortunately, time was judged in competitive ‘turns’ rather than actual minutes, and she wasn’t sure what to do with herself otherwise…also she’d been promised free food if she won at least one battle.
Fortunately, Zossie is great at imitating others–and she’s seen Dulse fight every time he’d done so. What she’d gathered from battle observation and study was:
Pokémon were able to use four moves at once.Pokémon were part of certain type groups, usually limited at two.Attacks also have types, usually limited to one.When the Pokémon’s type and the attack’s type match up the attack is strengthened.Attacks come in ‘physical’ and ‘special.’
Furfrou is a ‘Normal’ type.Furfrou’s moveset ((as decided by @duileasc)) contains the moves “Sucker Punch”; “Charm”; “Wild Charge”; and “Return.”
She played with the Beast Ball with shaky hands. She was not Furfrou’s ‘trainer.’ However, she’d assisted in crafting the Beast Balls that Dulse used, and was with Dulse at all times, assisting him or recieving his assistance. It at least knew her, and she shakily pet it until she calmed down further.
“I’m sorry… .” She murmured to it, bumping its cheek with hers. “I don’t know how to fight… .”
The temperaments between her partner and his Pokémon were similar. It calmly pressed its nose against her cheek, placed a paw on her shoulder, and allowed for her to relax again. “I’m gonna need a lot of help. I’m sorry if you get hurt.”
‘Return’ as she and Dulse had come to understand, was an attack that was stronger based on the trust and affection between the trainer and Pokémon. She wasn’t certain quite where she stood with the dog, and as such her desire to use it and find out her lack of relationship with it made it weaker simply didn’t occur.
Zossie wandered over to the buffet to look over the food, again being overwhelmed by the many strange smells wafting off of it. Her hand flew to the Furfrou and began to stroke it. Calm yourself, Zossie. Stay focused.
This was a place where battles were designed to take place over food(which seemed silly as Alola was clearly in no way short on food.) So asking somebody for a battle wouldn’t be abrupt at all, right? But she’d never battled before. She really didn’t know how to begin this. Dulse had told her that everybody on the island simply approached one another to battle. It was a very direct action. So she crept to the side towards a young boy who was eagerly scooping what was, to her, an immense serving of food onto his plate. When she opened her mouth to speak, nothing came out. Neither words nor sounds, Ultra Beast or otherwise. She choked on her breath and closed her eyes, trying to breathe evenly despite that every breath just contained the strong smells of fresh plates of food stacked high next to one another. Calm yourself. Calm yourself.
The Furfrou was about to approach and request the battle itself, when Zossie opened her eyes again and looked the boy in the face, expression bizarrely strict and neutral. If anybody present had ever seen him before, they might think she looked quite equivalent to Dulse just then–and then she spoke, and that Dulse was what she was going for became abundantly clear.
“I’ll admit to being rather inexperienced,” she began, tone, voice, posture all imitative of her partner’s, “and I’ll also admit that this Pokémon is not mine, though as soon as I reunite with him I’ll return it to its trainer. However, if you wouldn’t mind, I challenge you to a battle, as seem to be the rules of this location. Is that alright?”
The boy seemed surprised by the way her voice sounded, then broke out into a grin–it really seemed like battles were irresistible to those who partook in them here. Not to mention winning meant that one could take the food as they pleased… .
She looked to the Furfrou whose ears rose in surprise at her sudden change in behavior, but it settled into place, seeming more confident. Even if she was only imitating Dulse…so far so good. Tail lashing some in anticipation, the Pokémon watched as the boy threw his own ball, releasing a Ledian from inside. Zossie crossed her arms, remaining as stance-similar to Dulse as she could.
She didn’t know much about a lot of Pokémon. There were a great deal of them. She knew far more about Ultra Beasts. But from the form of this creature–the plated eyes, the structure of its body, the antennae, and the arms–that it was most likely a bug-type. The strong wings and its regular state of hovering meant it was likely a flying-type as well… .
“Ledian, use Mach Punch!” The boy cried, pointing his bug onwards to the Furfrou. Mach Punch–the name alone sounded like it was a fighting-type move for certain–
It made contact before she could even get her thoughts together–increased priority was something she didn’t quite grasp yet. The urge to gasp was pushed down by her strict imitation of Dulse, although she did flinch as the Furfrou took the hit… .
…Rather well, actually. Clearly it hurt, but…its coat must have been so thick it reduced the amount of damage it took. The Furfrou barked as the Ledian flew back in an attempt to stay away from it and avoid an attack. Zossie knew how to hit it, though, and continuing her imitation, she gestured out for it, as if the Furfrou didn’t know where it was going. “Wild Charge, Furfrou.”
Static gathered in the canid’s fur and gradually formed a veil of electricity. It growled before darting for the flying bug whose trainer instructed it to try and dodge–but Furfrou was faster, leapt at it and took it down with a super effective, electrified tackle.
“Mach Punch again, Ledian! Hit it hard!”
“Use Sucker Punch.”
Again, a swings were made for Furfrou, who’d suffered two bouts of damage in that turn, but its thick coat was no match even for the Ledian’s iron fists. Its own speed and priority won out this time, a rough paw struck the Ledian across the head, and its own flailing fists were hardly an issue as it reeled from the pain.
Ledian was clearly doing far worse even on the second turn–but Zossie wasn’t counting her Xurkiseeds just yet. Not until it was actually over.(Certainly, in her head she was cheering wildly at what seemed like such simple success–she was shaking in an attempt to keep her act up, even. Dulse would never. He was too cool and calm to celebrate so early.)
Sucker Punch only worked if an attack was being planned–the Ledian had managed to squirm away from Furfrou, and considering the state it was in losing, the boy may have wanted to use a potion or a defensive move or something to raise its stats. Furfrou would be hurt even more if they used Wild Charge again… .
There was no way Return would do much of anything here.
They seemed to make their decisions simultaneously, some of Zossie’s worry slipping through in her exclamation rather than continuing Dulse’s quiet tone.
“Sucker Punch again, Furfrou!”“Use Double Edge!!”
Again, speed and priority took over, and as the Ledian darted forward, putting its whole body into the strong attack, Furfrou reared up on its hind legs to slam a paw into it roughly. The result was contact and a bit of a swing, then the contact of the double edge slamming them both into the floor noisily, both suffering quite severe damage.
But Ledian suffered more.
A weak cry gave out before it fainted, doing its best to hover away again, Furfrou rolling back onto its feet to rise in case of more threats. Hurt as it was, it wasn’t so hurt it couldn’t go on… .
Which meant that Zossie had won her first battle.
“I did?”
It took a moment to register the congratulations and praise among the noisy applause that suddenly broke out, her hands going to her ears as she looked around in alarm before relaxing as understanding came over her and the Furfrou trotted up to her to rub against her affectionately, congratulatory. She observed it for a bit, mind still caught in Dulse-play though her body had since left it and she observed it, somewhat slack-jawed, before kneeling down to pet and hug it.
“We did it! We won!!” She cried, rocking with the dog in the hug, bumping foreheads and cheeks with it. “I’m so sorry! Are you okay, Furfrou? I’m sorry I made you hurt yourself! I’m sorry your Ledian got hurt, too!”
“Aww, it’s alright! We had fun, even if we didn’t win! That’s what matters!”
“We had fun!” She repeated, hiding her face in the thick fur of the Furfrou. It was warm and soft and muffled all the loud and sudden noises that were, perhaps, a bit too much for her at the moment, even as she giggled giddily and pet it. “We won, we won~” She chirped a bit and cooed, continuing to rock back and forth contentedly.
“Now you can take your plate!” One of the cooks said, scooping the plentiful food onto one for her. She looked up and gazed in wonder at the great helpings of sushi–which fortunately didn’t have as strong a smell as some of the other food–full of unfamiliar ingredients, which someone was kind enough to list for her when she looked over it curiously.
“Thanks!” She chirped,
and then turned and darted out the door with the Furfrou on her heels. She had to show Dulse!! She won a battle and got them food for–for days, if not longer!
…She hadn’t quite processed the part of the Battle Buffet explanation where she was supposed to fight for ten turns and not just one battle, but she seemed more than satisfied on her way out!
@eudicotts replied to your post “If people try and get Ultra Beasts to leave that have no desire to...”
(Idk your policy about commenting so pm me if you want this removed) Understandable, but I get really bad vibes from this line of thinking like "Yo I don't care about any of your human rules or feelings this perpetually-hungry/ giant-ass/ sharp af UB who killed an innocent woman/destroyed a building/ burned down a forest likes living on this island chain with its delicate ecosystem and limited food sources and you better let it stay here because it wants to (UwU)."
((Comments are allowed on the part of everybody lol no worries o/
And, yeah, of course that mindset is fucking horrible. But that’s why adaptionis integral. You can’t just. . .throw an Ultra Beast into another world and leave it there. Not for the Beast’s sake, but for the sake of the people whose world is at stake then. That paragraph contains a very simplified version of the plan--a simplified but more deailed version would be like.
Finding places for them or trainers/organizations to care for them safely, finding places they could live that would be suitable for them, helping them adapt and helping the people adapt to them, population control, obviously controlling them or keeping their behavior safe and reasonable as not to be harmful to the natural citizens of the world.
Stuff like that. Remove the ones that wanna go home, help the ones that wanna stay adapt, remove/relocate any that are causing a great deal of harm. Obviously the plan doesn’t work with, say Guzzlord, who’ll just eat through literally everything, but in the case in point(this post from @denjyumokuu was what was being [very meta-ly] responded to) if it’s a Xurkitree that’s. . . . . . . . . . . I’m not gonna call Xurk harmless, but like many Pokémon, if you waltz into his territory, he’s not gonna be nice to you, that’s just natural, but if it’s a largely harmless or peaceful UB that can just sort of. Manage uner proper conditions, Zossie feels that if there came a time they could live like any other Pokémon could, that’d be ideal.
It’s not as simple as “well, it wants to be here, so let it”--they’ve gotta behave or adapt/be adapted/be under care lol. It just seems to her like a better plan then “well, it’s not from here, so get rid of it”))
eudicotts replied to your post: THEY TOOK OUT MY FAVOURITE LINE FUCK ULTRA MOON
Yo what line? I’ve UM too, and I don’t want to miss out.
that line from sun and moon where plumeria is asking for lillie and the mc to save guzma and she’s like ‘no one can make up for what they’ve done if they’re gone’ idk i really like that line and they got rid of it bah
